1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved collapsible seat structure as used on nestable shopping carts.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various types of collapsible seat structures for nestable shopping carts have heretofore been provided. The present invention is an improvement of Applicant's own collapsible seat structure as defined in his Canadian Pat. No. 992,579 issued on July 6, 1976. Another example of collapsible seat structures of this type can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,896,959.
A disadvantage of collapsible seat structures of the prior art is that the seat does not extend fully across the width of the secondary and end gates and when small articles are placed on such seat structure, when shopping, they can fall off through openings at the ends of the seat structure. Another disadvantage with seat structures of the prior art is that it is sometimes difficult to collapse the secondary gate towards the end gate as the seat portion does not readily hinge upwards by the application of force to the secondary gate in the direction of the end gate. A still further disadvantage of known collapsible seat structures is that when the shopping carts are nested one into the other the handle of the forward shopping cart obstructs with structural members or the attachment portion of the seat on the backrest portion of the secondary gate of the cart being nested. This will prevent the nestable shopping carts from being fully nested thereby occupying more space on a floor and sometimes cause damage to the collapsible seat structure. A still further disadvantage of the prior art is that many of these seat structures are complicated to manufacture and sometimes consist of too many parts.